After a week marked by morning and midday starts, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team’s 2026 season will hinge on its ability to play late at night.
The Mocs won a noon game against visiting Furman on Sunday to sweep their three-game series to close the regular season, then had to wake up early Wednesday to play against the same Paladins in the single-elimination first round of the Southern Conference tournament at Chattanooga’s Frost Stadium — a game that was initially scheduled for 10 a.m., bumped up an hour in hopes of avoiding inclement weather, then eventually postponed to 10 a.m. Thursday.
UTC eventually blew open what had been a tight game against Furman in the tourney opener by scoring seven runs in the final two innings to win 10-3 and oust the eight-team bracket’s lowest-seeded team, but the same bats that pounded out 10 hits against the Paladins fell asleep versus fourth-seeded Wofford, and fifth-seeded UTC managed only three hits in a 2-0 loss to the Terriers.
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To keep their season going, coach Frank Reed’s Mocs (23-28-1) will have to win an elimination game Friday night. Provided the tournament’s second day stays on schedule, UTC is set for a 7 p.m. first pitch against the loser of the day’s second winners-bracket semifinal, an afternoon pairing of second-seeded Samford (26-29) — which had a double bye as one of the top two seeds — and third-seeded Western Carolina (34-22).